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Letter to Murcia
The Letter to Murcia is an important historical document in the history of Navonia. It is presumed to be the direct motive for the Selessian military involvement in the Navonian Civil War. Some historians still doubt whether the letter actually existed since the original copy was never found. Yet there is enough indirect evidence that suggests the letter was real. The letter to Murcia stated that Edward of Saxony has confessed the conspiracy with the Selessians in order to save his live. Though the letter was signed by Edward of Saxony, the claims made in it are false. According to the accepted account of history, Umberto of Murcia deemed the letter to be real and responded to it by ordering his troops to move beyond Ostland and into the heart of the Navonian Kingdom. An idiom was derived from this incident: in Navonian popular speech 'sending letters to Murcia' means 'to be telling lies without clear motivation'. Historical facts Though the whole belief in the existence and importance of the letter is based mostly on indirect evidence, enough historical references have been found to lead to the following reconstruction of events: Umberto of Murcia received a letter shortly after the Battle of Massovia, stating that Edward of Saxony had revealed their conspiracy in order to save his live. It also suggested that the Selessians could best attack the Navonian Kingdom right away and if not at least prepare for defense against Navonian retaliation. The claims made in the letter are false: Edward of Saxony never revealed the conspiracy because doing so actually meant he would have been executed for high treason. Also, no account of such a testimony was found in the administration of the Kingdom. The letter was signed by Edward of Saxony and also wore his insignia, thus if not written by Edward of Saxony it was at least written by someone who had access to his identification. The letter made Umberto of Murcia decide to spend all resources on a Grand Army which had the task to conquer the Navonian Kingdom under the conduct of his son. After the Battle of Pargoth a clerk gave wrong information to Edward of Saxony, telling him that the Grand Army was defeated and the Navonian Kingdom was saved. Upon hearing this information, Edward of Saxony committed suicide out of fear for Charles V's reaction if the Selessians would disclose the conspiracy. Content The exact content is still unknown because the original letter was lost. Luckily it was paraphrased and quoted in several (military) documents in the Murcian administration, as well as later on in official communications preceding the peace treaty between the Navonian nobility and the Murcian Commonwealth. Also, several copies appeared in the centuries following. Some copies were false but most are based on eyewitness accounts. A few even have been tracked back to eyewitnesses who read the original letter or a direct copy. The generally accepted reconstruction of the letter is as follows: :Letter to MurciaThis was written on the envelope which contained the letter, together with the date. - My dear friend Umberto, ruler of the Selessians, the situation is outmost precarious. During the campaign by which I tried to rightfully claim my throne, my generals abandoned me. They were bribed by the Navonians and betrayed their king.The letter refers to the campaign of New-Saxony and the Battles of Highfield and Massovia.The letter portrays the events incorrect since the New-Saxony army simply lost the battles because it was outnumbered. I had no choice but to disclose our secret agreementA reference to the agreement of Umberto of Murcia to provide the House of Saxony with an army to conquer the Navonian throne. if I wanted to save the old and noble House of Saxony. I suggest Murcia attacks the Kingdom this instant; not to save me from the dim fate that awaits me, but to safeguard the mighty city in the cloudsAllusion to the geographical features of the Murcian area, being located in the higher regions of Rodenia. from Charles's wraith. At least prepare your defenses my friend! The britsSobriquet to refer to the Navonians, who were a former colony of the british crown. Seldom used today. are coming. With regrets of the past, Edward of Saxony. Theories Ever since the letter was discovered, several theories were conceived of who was the writer. Most obvious is to accept the signature and attribute it to Edward of Saxony. This however leaves historians with the question of what his goals were, since nowadays we know that the claims made in the letter are false. The most commonly accepted culprit next to Edward of Saxony is Edward the Conquerer, but Charles V and even the Sudetian leadership have been accused of being behind the letter to Murcia. Edward of Saxony As said before Edward of Saxony could easily have written the letter himself. The only question remaining is why he would have lied about his confession. Some historians claim the letter was his last attempt at gaining support of the Murcian armies; support he had requested before but remained unanswered. People who accuse Edward of Saxony thus believe he was deceiving the Murcian ruler on purpose in order to use the given armies to conquer the Navonian throne. His suicide is in this scenario explained as the result of a genuine mistake made by his clerk. It has also been claimed that the clerk had his own political agenda or was payed to provide Edward with false information. None of these claims could however been proven. This scenario remains popular but has trouble explaining why Edward would take such a risk after he got amnesty for his military campaign against the Navonian Kingdom. Also, it is very doubtful Charles V trusted Edward enough to allow written communication between New-Saxony and Murcia. Umberto of Murcia It has been claimed that Umberto of Murcia has drafted the letter himself or at least gave the order for it. Two possible trails have been proposed. In one version Umberto needed to convince his nobility to charge against the Navonian Kingdom. Various reasons for this have been suggested, including conquering the Navonian throne for himself and assisting Edward of Saxony after all. The other trial is that Umberto ordered the letter to be written as part of his growing paranoia: the Selessian leader was getting more and more preoccupied with the treat of a Navonian invasion. It could also have been that other prominent figures made misuse of this. Though Umberto's paranoia certainly made it easier for him to accept the letter as 'real', it is unlikely he is responsible for it. Edward of Murcia The most commonly accepted theory amongst historians is that Edward of Murcia created a complex plot to gain all thrones he could possibly combine. He is believed to have abused his father's paranoia to get control over all military resources of Selessia. With the Grand Army he first defeated the Navonian Kingdom and then returned to Murcia to force his father to abdicate. The Sudetians in Harbin were promised more autonomy and territorial expansion and Edward of Saxony was dealt with by tricking him into suicide. The latter was possible because the clerk delivering the fatal message to Edward of Saxony got his orders directly from the Selessian Grand Army. Supporters of opposing theories remark that Edward the Conquerer didn't have access to Edward of Saxony's seal. This problem has been solved by stressing the secret affair the Conquerer would have had with Edward's sister. Another possible solution is that Navonian nobles were involved in the conspiracy and assisted the Grand Army to either get rid of their king or save their own lives. Charles V or the Navonian elite A possibility that has only been looked into very recently is that Charles V or the Navonian elite might have been behind it. They might have wanted to conquer the Selessian territories or even found out about the conspiracy the Murcian leadership had with New-Saxony. Because no-one really studied this scenario, it is still not developed well. Obstacles for a future theory of this kind are the surprised reaction of the Navonian military on the Selessian invasion and the failure of the supposed plan as a whole. Also, if they wanted to conquer the Selessian territories, then why warn the enemy in advance? Why lure the battle within the own boundaries? On a more positive note the Navonian elite managed to convince Edward the Conquerer to take the throne, which could indicate they instigated their own defeat in order to get rid of the king. Sudetian responsibility Suggested by nationalist historians in the past is a scenario in which the Sudetian authorities or the communities in Harbin are behind the letter. The reasoning goes that they wanted to unite the Sudetian territories and weaken the respective positions of the Navonia and Selessia. The civil war surely took away pressure from the Sudetian boundaries. Also, Harbin temporarily gained more autonomy and even profited from the moving Grand Army to make a charge against Navonia itself. Harbin was however not reattached to Sudetia and in the long run the civil war only made Navonia stronger. This scenario can thus be easily excluded. Nonetheless some historians still take it serious. References Category:Historical document Category:History of Navonia